Love Hurts
by x.jovial
Summary: Kaz and Oliver have always been best friends… but one day, when their friendship almost possibly comes to an end, they both realize that they need each other.
1. Chapter 1

**Rating:** T

 **Genre(s):** angst, hurt/comfort, friendship/romance

 **Characters:** Oliver, Kaz, Skylar + others, but those are the main

 **Pairing(s):** Eventual Kaziver _(don't like, don't read)_

 **Summary:** Kaz and Oliver have always been best friends… but one day, when their friendship almost possibly comes to an end, they both realize that they need each other.

 **Warnings:** Boy x Boy _(again, don't like, don't read)_ , dark depression scenes, possible Skylar bashing (because, honestly, I don't like her all that much :/), possible character death/tragic ending, language/swearing OCCASIONALLY, oh, and definite Skoliver (Skylar x Oliver) bashing :)

 **Notes/Info:** This fic will most likely end up being very long, and will stretch from before the beginning of Mighty Med, to after what we have of Lab Rats: Elite Force, plus a slight LREF continuation. For the sake of this fic, Kaz and Oliver are known as "Kaz Duncan" and "Oliver Quimby".

 **Chapter 1**

"But, mommy, I don't wanna!" a young raven haired boy whined to his mother.

"Now, come on, Kaz! Go in! Now!" his ornery mother snapped.

The boy, known as Kazimieras, but more commonly as Kaz, looked up with fear in his teary, chocolate brown eyes. He was genuinely scared. It was his very first day of preschool, and quite frankly, he spent most of his days, at home, isolated from most people. His mother, Camille, was impatient with him. He had seven older siblings - seven other kids she had to drop off for their first days of school, all waiting in the car.

"Stop whining! It'll be fine! I've got to go, Kazzy. Have fun. Love you," she said hastily, patting him quickly on the cheek and running out of the classroom.

Kaz knew she loved him, but not as much as he would like her to. Hew knew he was one of the least favorite children - neglected and forgotten. He didn't like that one bit.

Kaz stood in the corner, observing the other kids, most running around wild and acting like maniacs, with others simply playing with toys. He wished he could go play with them, but he was too shy to. Instead, he just observed them. There were mostly boys, but a good amount of girls, too. There were taller kids, shorter kids, various races, blonde haired, brown haired, black haired, red haired, and so on. It seemed as though all of the kids were playing together, until he spotted… him.

Sitting at one of the round tables was a smaller boy with chestnut brown hair. He was sitting all alone, looking sad and lonely. He was drawing a picture, and coloring it nearly with brightly colored crayons. Kaz was confused. Why wasn't this kid playing with the others? Perhaps, he was just the same as he was. Scared and alone.

Kaz took a seat, not at the table the other kid was at, but the one right next to it, so he was nearly right next to the boy. He silently peered over his shoulder to see what he was drawing. He was drawing a very good picture of Kaz's favorite superhero, Tecton. Well, good for a preschooler, that is. Kaz was delighted at that discovery. This kid could maybe be his first friend! If only he could've just said hello. He tried as hard as he could to get the courage to, but simply couldn't. Kaz sighed, giving up quickly, a bad habit he'd picked up at way too young of an age.

Just then, one of the taller, rowdier kids loomed over to the small boy, towering over him and looking at his drawing. He had pale blonde hair and cold blue eyes.

"What's that?" the tall boy inquired, rather loudly.

The small boy nearly jumped out of his skin, flinching and turning to look up at the tall kid.

"I-it's Tecton…" he stammered, his bright blue eyes wide with fear.

The blonde haired boy snatched up the drawing. The brunette stood up and tried to grab it back, but quickly became too scared and intimidated.

"Tecton? Come on! He's stupid!" the blonde jeered. "Superheroes are stupid!"

For effect, the blonde tore the drawing into four different pieces, then let them flutter to the ground. The brunette watched in despair as his masterpieces was destroyed right before his eyes. Then, the blonde shoved him so hard, he fell to the ground.

"You're stupid," he taunted to the sad, small boy on the floor.

The small boy began to cry, which made Kaz feel angry. That boy had done nothing to the other boy, and certainly not anything to deserve something as harsh as that. So, he stood up, puffed out his chest, narrowed his eyes, and said confidently, "Leave him alone."

The brunette looked up at him, hope in his tear filled eyes. The tall boy looked appalled. "What?"

"Leave him alone," Kaz repeated, just as menacingly.

"Why should I?"

"He didn't do anything to you."

"So what?"

"So, leave him alone!"

"Make me!"

Kaz shoved him, just as the blonde had shoved the brunette, and he fell over. The blonde looked angry, but he just stood up and left. Kaz felt proud of himself. He just stood up to someone, which was something he'd never done before.

Kaz turned around and saw that the small boy was still on the ground, tears running down his pale cheeks. He held out a hand to help him up. The boy looked hesitant at first, but eventually accepted the help. Kaz gladly pulled him to his feet.

"Th-thank-thank you…" the smaller boy said softly, sniffling.

"You're welcome. My name is Kaz. What's yours?" Kaz inquired.

"Oliver."

"Olive? Like those veggies you can stick on your fingers then eat?"

"No, Oliv _er_."

"Oh," Kaz said with a giggle.

Oliver gave him a shy smile before crouching down to pick up the remains of his beautiful drawing. He put the pieces on the table, arranging them back to the way they were supposed to be. He sighed sadly, more tears flowing from his eyes. "Ruined…"

"It was a really good picture," Kaz remarked.

"Thanks," Oliver said sadly.

"Hey, guess what?"

"What?"

"Tecton's my favorite superhero."

"Really?"

"Really. And I'm gonna fix him!"

"How?"

"Like this."

Kaz ran across the classroom, spotting a tape dispenser, and ran back. It was clear tape, so hopefully it would look somewhat as good as new. He got to work, pulling off pieces and pieces of tape, and fixing the picture. In the end, it was far from perfect, not even being in a perfect rectangle, but when Kaz was done, Oliver wiped his tears and giggled, which made Kaz happy.

"See? All better," Kaz said with a smile.

"Thanks," Oliver grinned.

"Hey, I'm like a doctor! A… a superhero doctor!"

Oliver giggled again, a huge smile on his no longer sad face.

"You can be, too! Kaz and Oliver! Superhero doctors!"

"I like that!"

"We should be friends. No… best friends!"

"Yeah, best friends!"

Both boys were overjoyed. Neither of them had ever had friends before, and now they had a best friend.

"Here. I want you to have this," Oliver said, carefully holding out his newly repaired drawing.

Kaz took it, but asked, "Why?"

Oliver simply smiled and replied, "You're my new best friend. And you really helped me today. Thanks."

Kaz returned the smile, and the two boys hugged each other as a sign of their new friendship. And little did they know, that friendship would last pretty much their entire lives.


	2. Chapter 2

Ever since that moment, the two were inseparable, as close as brothers. They learned more and more about each other with every second spent together. Kaz learned that Oliver was deathly afraid of any type of needle, and Oliver learned that Kaz wanted a pony named Oatmeal, as examples.

The closer they became, the more their personalities became altered. Kaz was no longer a shy little nervous kid, instead becoming a wild, reckless, and loud kid. As for Oliver, he lost his sense of total seriousness, instead becoming more quirky and dorky, but still serious at the times he needed to be.

The two boys made it through preschool, with the blonde boy known as Lance Richardson keeping away from them for the most part. Kaz did have to tell him off a few times, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Just keeping his best friend safe from bullying he didn't deserve.

On the day they started kindergarten, they were delighted to discover that they were in the same class, again.

"Sweet! Check out this classroom!" Kaz exclaimed as the boys entered the bright and lively room.

Oliver smiled and they sat down, next to a girl with blonde hair. She did not look happy. Instead, just annoyed and angry, in a way.

"Hi, I'm Kaz, and this is Oliver," Kaz told her with a grin. "What's your name?"

"Jordan," she grumbled, folding her arms.

"What's wrong?" Oliver asked, confused.

"I don't wanna be here! This place stinks! And that boy won't leave me alone!" she pointed to a boy who was sitting in the corner.

He was scrawny, he wore pretty thick glasses, and had moppy brown hair. He was currently taking off his shoes and socks, and sniffing them. Oliver wrinkled his nose in disgust, while Kaz just laughed.

"He isn't even doing anything to you," Oliver pointed out.

"He was trying to get me to smell his socks, and now he won't stop looking at me!" Jordan muttered.

As if on cue, the boy looked over at her, smiled and waved, then walked over again.

"Go away! I don't wanna smell your socks, you sicko!" Jordan complained.

"Relax. I just saw new people to get to smell them," the kid said, shoving the socks in Kaz and Oliver's faces.

The smell was repulsive. Oliver gagged, and Kaz pushed them away.

"Eh, thought that might happen. I'm Gus," he informed them.

"I'm Kaz."

"I'm Oliver."

"Go away!" Jordan snapped.

Gus just ignored her. "You two have met Jordan? She's obsessed with me!"

Jordan looked infuriated. "Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

The argument went back and forth, on and on, for a long time, before Kaz and Oliver silently slipped away to another table.

"Those two are sure interesting," Oliver remarked, weirded out.

"Inter… inna… inner… huh?" Kaz asked, confused by Oliver's choice of words.

Oliver had always had an extensive vocabulary for his age, and he often forgot that. While "interesting" wasn't necessarily a too advanced word, it also wasn't a word a kindergartener like himself would normally use. Plus, Kaz didn't have a very good vocabulary.

"Interesting," Oliver corrected, enunciating. "It's a word you would use when something is cool, or if it's weird, I guess. Whatever it is. Gus and Jordan are interesting in the weird way."

"Oh, okay. So superheroes are interesting in the cool way?"

Oliver giggled his signature, small little innocent giggle. "Yeah."

The rest of their kindergarten year was similar to that. They learned a lot of new things, and Kaz has to relearn things from preschool. Whenever Kaz didn't understand something, like how to read or spell certain words, for instance, he could always count on Oliver to help him through it. And Kaz helped Oliver with plenty of things as well. In fact, Kaz was incredibly helpful to Oliver most of the time, with things like… if Oliver tripped and fell, Kaz would help him up. If Oliver couldn't find something, Kaz would help him find it. If someone was picking on Oliver, Kaz would stand up for him. If Oliver was sad, Kaz would do everything he could to make him happy.Kaz and Oliver just simply had an unbreakable bond. They rarely fought, but when they did, they always made up and forgave each other. Besides, their fights were hardly that extreme. A few petty arguments, they butted heads occasionally, and Kaz would get on Oliver's nerves, but they weren't going to let them tear their friendship apart.

On Kaz's fifth birthday, three days after Oliver's birthday, he had a party. He had a few friends over: Oliver, of course, Gus and Jordan, and a few other kids from the neighborhood, including Oliver's next door neighbor, Stefanie. Kaz took a liking to her. She was a really pretty blonde girl, and her family was rich, so she was always dressed so fancy. Too bad she wasn't exactly the nicest person ever.

It became time for Kaz to blow out his candles on his Tecton cake, after he was sang to. He thought about a wish to make. This was finally time for him to wish for his pony, Oatmeal! He grinned, wished it, and was about to blow, when Oliver, who was sitting right next to him, sneezed. The candles were blown out, and everyone thought it was Kaz who blew them out. Kaz was angry. He'd never been angry with Oliver before, but now he was.

"Oliver!" he yelled out in rage.

Oliver shrunk down in his seat ever so slightly. He looked guilty and hurt.

"I-I'm sorry, Kazzy… it-it was an accident!" the smaller boy told him.

"You ruined my wish!"

Oliver looked like he could've started bawling. Kaz didn't believe him that he'd done it on accident. He couldn't help if he had to sneeze.

"I-I'm sorry…" Oliver repeated in a soft, sad voice.

Kaz felt bad. Oliver looked exceptionally sad. He sighed, "It's okay… I'm sorry for yelling at you…"

Oliver nodded. "It's okay."

Kaz was still upset about his wish, because he knew it would never come true, but at least he still had his best friend.

A lot of their school years were the same. Sometimes they weren't in the same class, but were still together as much as possible, and both continued to help each other.

One specific day during their third grade year, when Kaz was at The Domain, their favorite comic book store, with his older brother Kevin, who was barely even watching him like he was supposed to, Kaz had carefully tucked his math and science homework into two comic books he was planning on buying, for safekeeping. When he checked his pockets and counted his money, he discovered he didn't have enough for even one of the comic books. Sad, he put them back, completely forgetting his homework was in them.

Kevin and Kaz eventually walked home, but Kevin left Kaz behind once they reached the head of their neighborhood, but he kept heading home anyway. If he told his mom about that, Kevin would be in so much trouble. And those were Kaz's intentions.

Meanwhile, Oliver was huddled up in his dark bedroom, timidly listening to the all too familiar sound of his parents arguing. He was used to it by then. His parents fought all the time. Too much for a small boy of his age to have to listen to. But then, he just couldn't take it anymore. He silently opened his bedroom door, and crept downstairs.

"...How could you possibly think that?! I think I know much more about what's good for Oliver than you do, thank you very much!" his mother yelled.

"And why is that?! He's my son, too!" his father yelled back.

Oliver felt horrible. They were fighting about him? That didn't settle right on his conscience very well.

Being as quiet as he could, which wasn't very hard for him, he ran out the front door, and sat on the cold grass in his front yard. The sun was almost completely set, and it was starting to get chilly, but Oliver didn't care. He didn't want to be inside anymore. The arguing was making him extremely anxious. The small boy began to softly cry. He didn't know what to do. He wished he could get them to just stop fighting for once, but he'd probably get yelled at if he asked them to, and he certainly didn't want that.

"Oliver?" a familiar voice said from the sidewalk in front of him.

Oliver flinched, startled, then looked up to see Kaz standing there, looking worried.

Kaz had seen Oliver run out of his house while he was walking, since they lived quite close, and he could tell that he was really upset. Not just by the fact that he was crying, but also because Kaz knew Oliver well enough to tell when he was hurting.

"Are you okay?" Kaz asked him gently, even though he knew he wasn't.

Oliver nodded, and gave his best friend an obviously fake smile.

"Are you sure?" Kaz asked again, sitting next to the smaller boy.

Oliver's fake smile faded, and he shook his head, more tears running down his cheeks. Kaz hugged him tightly, holding him in his arms. Oliver silently cried.

"What's wrong?" Kaz asked, feeling very worried about his best friend.

"M-my parents. Th-they won't stop fighting," Oliver said with a sniff.

Kaz knew how that felt. His parents fought all the time, as well, and he knew they were only still together because it was financially convenient for them, and because they had so many kids. And that alone really hurt Kaz.

"My parents fight a lot, too," Kaz said simply.

"Really?" Oliver sniffled.

"Really. I'm sorry yours do too. It must make you really said like it makes me."

"Yeah…"

"Don't cry, Ollie, it's gonna be alright…"

Kaz pulled Oliver even closer to him, and Oliver nuzzled his head in the crook of Kaz's neck. Kaz's presence was enough to start to calm Oliver down. He stopped crying, and his breathing became normal once again. The boys were out out there, Kaz holding Oliver in his arms, for a long time. Then Kaz realized that he had better get home. His mother would worry. Or… she would just get mad at him. The last one was more likely, he decided.

"Hey… Oliver?" Kaz whispered gently.

"Yeah…?" was Oliver's soft reply.

"I, uh, I gotta go home. My mom will… worry. Sorry, buddy…"

Oliver looked a little disappointed, but shrugged anyway, pulling away from Kaz. "It's okay. I'll be fine."

Kaz stood up, then helped Oliver to his feet. Though both were young, there was still a significant size difference, both in height and build. Kaz had always been bigger than Oliver, who was actually the older one. However, they were both too young to notice much, or even really care all that much.

They hugged briefly one last time, then Kaz whispered gently, "Love you, Ollie."

"Love you too, Kazzy…" Oliver whispered back.

When they let go, Kaz started back on his way home. It was dark by then, but he knew his way.

Oliver sighed, rubbed his exposed arms to warm himself up, then walked back up his porch steps and walked through the front door. No surprise to him, his parents were still arguing. He slipped past them and ran back upstairs, hopping straight into bed without doing anything to get ready for it. He wished he wasn't being so neglected, and that his parents, happy and getting along would come up and tuck him in… but he knew that wouldn't happen.

As he began to drift off to sleep, he thought to himself how lucky he was to have a best friend like Kaz…

Kaz eventually got home, and his watch read 9:47 by then. Sighing, he walked inside. The usually utter chaos. The house was trashed, he could hear two of his sisters fighting all the way upstairs, and his mom was yelling; hopefully at Kevin. He wanted to sneak up to his room undetected, but he wasn't sure that was possible. Mostly because his older sister, Kendra, yelled, "Kaz is home!"

He shot her the death stare. His mother immediately stopped yelling, and he could hear her quickly and loudly making her way to the living room.

"Kazimieras Duncan! Where have you been?!" she screamed, approaching him and grabbing him by the ear. She dragged him all the way to the kitchen.

"Ow! Mom!" Kaz complained.

"Your brother got here an hour ago! What took you so long?!"

"He left me alone!"

"He's already been dealt with! Where were you?!"

"I-I got lost!" he lied.

"Bull crap! Where were you?!"

"Okay! Okay! I was at Oliver's house! When I walked past, I saw he was outside, crying, so I stayed with him until he calmed down!"

His mother's expression softened ever so slightly.

"And why was Oliver crying?" she asked in a much calmer tone.

"He… well… his parents were fighting. They fight all the time. Just like you and dad," Kaz explained.

His mother now wore a pained expression, but she said, "That was good of you to be there for him. But you're still grounded for lying to me."

"How long?" Kaz groaned.

She thought about it for a few seconds. "Only three days, I guess. If you hadn't lied and said you got lost, it would be zero."

He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. Now, go to bed, Kazzy."

He did as he was told, heading straight up to the room he shared with two of his brothers, Kenny and Keith. He had way too many siblings for comfort. So many that he typically couldn't remember all of their ages and birthdays. He did have eleven, after all. There was Katie, Kenny, Kevin, Kaylie, Kyle, Karen, K, Keith, Kendra, and no one could forget, the two Kasey's, who were twins, one a boy and one a girl. That meant he had six sisters and five brothers. He didn't have a great relationship with any of his siblings, besides Kyle, who he had an okay relationship with, but then again, he was three.

As soon as he entered the room, Keith demanded, "Kaz, where did you put my headphones?!"

Kaz certainly wasn't expecting that when he entered. He stood there, confused, then finally replied, "I don't know. I didn't even touch them!"

"I know you did, you little shit! Now, where are they?!" Keith yelled, approaching the boy.

Kaz was secretly terrified of his fourteen year old brother, as he was taller, tougher, and a whole lot meaner than the nine year old he was, but he didn't let it show. "I didn't do anything with them!"

Kaz truly did nothing to his brother's belongings. In fact, he rarely did. He knew not to mess with Keith. He was a dangerous kid, and he could flatten Kaz in two seconds. Keith just always blamed Kaz for it, when it was usually Kenny or another one of their siblings.

"Oh, yeah? Well, you'd better give them back, before I start taking things of yours!" Keith growled, storming over to Kaz's trunk that was at the end of his bed.

"No!" Kaz cried out as he opened it and started digging through the young boy's possessions.

Kaz tackled his brother and tried to get him away, but Keith shoved him off and he fell to the ground. But he didn't give up. He did everything he could think of to try and get him to leave his things alone, but it all ended badly for him. He turned to his thirteen year old brother, Kenny, who was on his laptop with headphones on, and didn't seem to realize just what was going on. Either that, or he didn't care. Kaz shook his head. Kenny wouldn't help him unless he got something in return for it.

Keith finally found something, and stood up, holding it high above his head so his little brother couldn't reach it. Kaz was completely horrified to discover that it was his favorite Tecton comic; the one that Oliver had given him for his ninth birthday. It was his prized possession. Kaz watched as Keith dangled it carelessly from his filthy hands. He jumped, trying to reach it and grab it back, but Keith was way too tall.

"Come on, Keith! Give it! I don't have your controllers, I swear!" Kaz pleaded, trying not to sound too weak.

"Well, then where are they?" Keith demanded.

"I don't know, but I didn't do anything with them! Give that here!"

"Oh, does it really mean that much to you?" Keith said in a mocking baby voice.

Kaz scowled at him, and he smirked.

"You need to grow up, little Kazzy. Superheroes aren't real. Never have been, never will be. This? It's just a picture book with a cheesy story. Nothing more. I'm gonna do you a favor, and help you grow up a little faster."

Kaz panicked at his words. Keith looked delighted, seeing the pain on his brother's face. He, for a split second, lowered it, and instantly tore it right in half.

"NO!" Kaz yelled, but it was too late.

The comic fell to the ground, completely torn in half, much like Kaz's innocent little heart. He felt like he could cry, which was rare for him, but he certainly wasn't going to do it in front of Keith.

"Did I hurt your little feelings, Kazimieras? Good. You deserve it. Stop lying, and start acting like a man. Got it, twerp?" Keith growled, grabbing Kaz by the front of the shirt.

Kaz nodded immediately, feeling the strongest urge to punch his brother square in the jaw. He could never do that, because he knew his mother loved Keith more, for some reason, so he'd be in a lot of trouble. Kaz pushed him off of him instead, and crouched down to pick up the remains of the comic. His first thought was… _I can't let Oliver find out about this… It will make him feel bad…_

He picked up the pieces, and a certain sense of deja vu came over him as he laid out the pieces on his bed. He remembered when he first met Oliver, and the picture that had been torn to pieces by a bully. He smiled a sad, small smile, thinking of that. He opened his trunk and hid the pieces at the very bottom, way too ashamed to do anything else about them. He felt horrible. Not because his comic was destroyed, but because the comic that Oliver had given to him as a meaningful gift was destroyed. He remembered seeing it in The Domain while hanging out there with Oliver once, and wanting it, but his mother wouldn't let him get it, and he had no money. But… about a week later, on his birthday, Oliver surprised him with it. That had made him so happy. He wished Oliver was there then…

His brothers had already switched off the lights to go to bed, and he had to find his way to his bed in the dark. Even though he was pretty much right next to it, he kept stepping on things, which really hurt. He didn't bother with pajamas, or anything else. He crawled into his bed and cuddled up in his blanket, which was a Tecton flannel blanket he'd had for forever. It was kind of small, and he was getting taller, but it was warm and he loved it.

He let out a few tears of sadness, but was sure to be quiet about it. His brothers never would have let him hear the end of it if they caught him crying.

Kaz wished he had a better family life. He wished he had no siblings, and two parents that loved each other, and loved him. For a split second, he wished he had Oliver's family… but… then again, he'd seen how upset his best friend was because his parents were fighting, he could hear them inside. Plus, Oliver was always left alone, and his parents often neglected him because they had to work so much. Perhaps him and Oliver both didn't have great family lives. Oliver did have an older brother, Chris, who had recently moved out of the house to go to college, and he knew they didn't get along great. Better than him and his brothers, but still not great.

Kaz then stopped his little game of self pity and started feeling awful for his best friend. He pictured his family. Bridget, his mother, who was shamelessly overprotective of him but still so neglectful. She never stopped working, and she was a prejudiced woman. She didn't like Kaz, or anyone from his family. He wasn't even sure she knew his name. Bridget always wanted everything just so, and was hard on Oliver to be the perfect son she wanted him to be. Oliver didn't like it at all, and he knew that.

Kaz thought of Nathan, Oliver's father. He hardly ever saw him. He'd always despised Kaz, and always tried to get Oliver to find other friends besides him because he saw him as a bad influence. Well… to be fair… Kaz had shaved half of Oliver's hair off, once… but that was one time. Nathan was very stern, and hated Oliver's obsession with comics and superheroes. He had some big, important job, but he wasn't sure what it was. It called for multiple business trips here and there, and he was hardly ever around. He, too, was hard on Oliver, which Kaz didn't understand.

Oliver was nine years old and was already being pressured with his grades and such. He was brilliant, and didn't need all the pressure, but they did it all anyway. Kaz's parents didn't care about how he did in school. Most of the time, they were barely willing to help him with homework. He wished he and Oliver were both in the middle.

Kaz then remembered Oliver's nineteen year old brother, Chris. He was a big, lanky guy, and he and Oliver looked pretty much exactly the same. Except, Chris' hair was a lot darker. The two were opposites. Oliver was smart, Chris was… not as smart. Oliver liked everything neat and nice, and Chris couldn't have cared less about any of that. Oliver was a caring person, while Chris was pretty much oblivious to people's feelings for the most part.He wasn't rude or anything, he just was too airheaded to notice much. Chris had mostly ignored Oliver, but he remembered once when Oliver had told Kaz how much he loved Chris and how much he wanted for the two of them to become close. For some unfathomable reason, Oliver looked up to Chris. The age gap made it pretty hard, though. They were a whole ten years apart, and not to mention, Chris wasn't even at home anymore.

Then Kaz pictured his best friend; the small, dorky little kid he knew and loved. Oliver was so kind and caring, and he certainly deserved much better than everything he got. Kaz couldn't even grasp why someone would want to harass or hurt Oliver. He was relentlessly bullied all the time, by Lance and a few others here and there. They had no good reasons for his treatment, and Oliver was the biggest pushover he'd ever seen, so, luckily, Kaz was always there for him, to back him up whenever needed.

Those thoughts still in his mind, Kaz drifted into a restless sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Kaz had never been known to scare all too easily. But one day, Oliver gave him the most fright and terror he'd experienced in his entire twelve years.

It was a cold January evening, and the boys were out in the Philadelphia city park, alone and unsupervised. They were completely bundled up, and there was so much snow, they could barely walk through. Nearby was a small lake, that was completely frozen over. Of course, Kaz excitedly ran towards it. Oliver grabbed his best friend by the arm, stopping him.

"Kaz! What are you doing? We can't go on the lake! It's too dangerous!" Oliver scolded.

"Oh, it's fine! It's not like we're gonna beat it with a sledgehammer!" Kaz chuckled.

"Knowing you, we may as well be," Oliver sighed.

"Relax, Oli-Pop!" Kaz then spotted a football, looking frozen, sitting on a bench. "Hey! We could play ice football! That sounds fun, doesn't it?"

It was times like these when Kaz wished Oliver wasn't so cautious. And Oliver wished that Kaz would use his head when it mattered.

"Kaz, we shouldn't," Oliver said, shaking his head in worry.

"Come on, Ollie! It'll be fun! When has anything I've ever suggested not been fun?" Kaz asked, a goofy smile on his face.

"Oh, maybe when I was getting stitches because I fell off the skateboard that you told me to ride on top of a skateboard?" Oliver pointed out.

"Okay... any other time but that!"

"When you and I played leap-frog on a trampoline and you knocked me off onto the ground and gave me a concussion?"

"At least name a good time!"

Oliver sighed again. "Kaz, I don't think it's a good idea. We have no idea how thick the ice is."

"Please?"

Kaz gave Oliver his best puppy dog eyes, which of course, didn't even phase Oliver in the slightest. He shook his head, and Kaz just looked sad.

"Come on, Oliver! Nothing will happen! Don't be such a wuss!" Kaz groaned.

Oliver froze for a second. Kaz made fun of him a lot, but he'd never called him a wuss before. And for some reason, it hit him hard.

"I am not a wuss! I am just being careful!"

"Oliver, that is the definition of a wuss! You need to take risks sometimes! Leap before you look!"

"No."

"Fine, then, wuss. I'll just go play by myself."

Oliver hated it when Kaz did this. He always seemed to get Oliver into things by either guilting him, or pressuring him. Right now, it was pressure. He didn't like the fact that Kaz was calling him a wuss, even though it shouldn't have hit so close to home like it did. He also didn't want to let his best friend go off on his own, and most likely end up getting himself hurt. So, he rolled his eyes, and muttered, "Fine."

Kaz's face lit up like a Christmas tree, and Oliver couldn't help but grin. Kaz snatched up the ball and threw it to Oliver, yelling, "Think fast!"

Oliver, luckily, was ready for it, and caught it. Kaz ran onto the ice, sliding, but not falling. Oliver ran after him, and they were both pretty much in giggling fits, being the playful boys they were. Neither of them knew all that much about football yet, and they weren't good at it, but they were gonna play it anyway.

"Kaz!" Oliver shouted. "Go long!"

Kaz did as commanded, and ran across the ice, trying not to slip. Oliver hurled the ball, and it was not headed towards Kaz at all. Kaz ran and tried to catch it, but it was too far from him. Oliver wasn't exactly good at throwing a football, and Kaz was going to fix that. After retrieving the ball, he ran back to his best friend.

"Hey, in order for this to work, I'm gonna need to teach you to throw a football, my friend," Kaz chuckled.

Oliver playfully rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Kaz gently tossed the football to Oliver, and came up behind him.

"Here, you'll wanna hold the ball like this," Kaz told him, showing him the right way.

Oliver did so slowly, trying to understand.

"When you throw it, try to roll it off of your hand. Got it?" Kaz explained.

Oliver nodded, a little overwhelmed.

"Show me, then," Kaz smirked.

Oliver grinned, and Kaz ran over away from him, and Oliver threw it as hard as he could, keeping in mind what Kaz had taught him. It wasn't perfect, and it didn't even reach Kaz, but it was better. Kaz was able to catch it, and he threw it back.

"Try it again," Kaz told him.

Oliver did so, and they did that over and over again until Oliver's throw was almost perfect.

"Good job, Ollie!" Kaz exclaimed proudly.

The smile on Oliver's face made Kaz even happier than he already was. The boys then started their game. It wasn't exactly a game, more so of them randomly throwing it to each other, and tackling each other for no reason. Oliver, no matter how hard he tried, simply couldn't pin Kaz like he could pin him. He was trying as hard as he could, but Kaz was a lot stronger than he was, and he was smaller than him.

He ran at his best friend and knocked him over. Too bad for him, Kaz had ahold of his little arms so fast he could barely even think, and he flipped him off of him. Then Kaz was able to tackle and pin him against the ice.

"Oh, come on!" Oliver said in frustration, struggling under Kaz's strong grip.

Kaz chuckled and allowed Oliver to get up, then they started throwing the football back and forth again. Oliver wasn't all that good at catching, either, but Kaz decided he wasn't going to fix that. Then, he had something to laugh at.

At one point, Kaz had the ball again.

"Hey, I'm gonna throw it really far this time. Five bucks says you won't catch it," Kaz said slyly.

Oliver smirked. "Well, five bucks says I do catch it."

"We'll see about that. Go long!"

Oliver ran as fast as he could without slipping, and Kaz hurled the ball as hard and far as he could. It went soaring through the air, and Oliver felt as if everything was going in slow motion. He ran, but he wasn't sure he was going to make it, so he dove, and seized the ball in his arms... but as soon as he hit the ice...

Crack!

It seemed to happen so fast. One second, Oliver was diving for the ball, and the next... he was simply gone, under the surface of the ice. Kaz felt terror rush over him as if he had just been completely submerged in a huge wave of freezing water.

"OLIVER!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

He didn't think he had ever run that fast in his entire life. He ran to the hole in the ice, and saw his best friend struggling to keep his head over the water. His snow clothes were weighing him down, and he was shivering, obviously.

"Ollie, Ollie, I'm here! I'm here! You're gonna be alright!" Kaz nervously reassured him, holding out his hand to try and pull Oliver back up.

Oliver weakly grasped Kaz's hand, and he tried to pull him up, but the water was weighing his already heavy clothes down even more. And eventually, Oliver's soaking wet glove slipped off his hand, and he fell back in.

"I-I-I-I can't k-keep m-m-m-myself up!" Oliver managed to choke out.

Kaz knew right then at that moment that he had to get help. He grabbed his best friends hand, helping him stay above the water, then desperately found his phone in his pocket. He had gotten it just that day, and he was so lucky he had it right at that moment. He'd never even called anyone with it yet, and he never imagined that the first number he would be calling on his new phone would be 911...

He dialed as quick as he could, heard the dial tone for not very long, then someone picked up.

"911. What's your emergency?" an older woman's voice asked.

"Hi... uh... m-me and my friend... we were-we were playing on the frozen lake... the-the one in the Philadelphia c-city park... a-and... he-he fell in... he can't last much longer... he needs help!" Kaz managed to say, and then he realized that he was crying. Sobbing for his best friend, who very possibly could die, all because of his stupid choices.

"Stay calm, young man. They'll be right there, alright? Calm down," she said, then hung up.

Kaz carelessly put his phone away, and turned back to Oliver, who was barely even moving anymore. He was as white as the snow they were surrounded by, and his lips were blue. He was almost completely limp.

"You're gonna be alright... hang in there, buddy... you're okay..." Kaz told him through his sobs, mostly trying to convince himself.

Oliver's eyes weakly opened for a few seconds, but quickly closed.

"This is... this is all my fault. I'm so... so sorry, Ollie..." Kaz sobbed.

Momentarily, Kaz heard sirens, causing him to become instantly more hopeful. A helicopter flew over them, and all sorts of other emergency vehicles surrounded them. A police officer stepped out of his car, followed by a few others, while a stretcher was lowered from the helicopter, along with a few people.

The first officer came up to them. "Step back, young man."

"I can't! He can't keep himself up anymore!" Kaz told him.

He nodded in understanding. He made some sort of gesture towards another officer, who came up to the two of them. The first cop, the man, grabbed Oliver's hand and had Kaz let go, and the second cop, a woman, gently grabbed Kaz and walked him away from the scene. They went into her warm car, and he sat in the passenger seat and bawled. He felt completely responsible for this, and he would've rather it had been him in the freezing cold water instead of Oliver. After all, Oliver had tried to talk him out of this. A chilling and terrifying thought came to his mind. What if his best friend died because of his stupid choices? He would have to live with that for the rest of his life.

"Hey, sweetie, it's gonna be alright. There's no need to cry about it," the officer said in a gentle voice. Kaz had almost forgotten that she was in there with him.

"This is all my fault... all my fault... a-and if he dies-" Kaz sobbed.

"Hey, he's not gonna die, alright? See? They already have him out of the water."

Kaz peered out the window and observed the scene. Indeed, they had Oliver's small body on the stretcher and he was being carefully loaded into the helicopter. In and instant, once everything and everyone was secure, they took off. Kaz buried his face in his gloved hands.

"He... he was trying to talk me out of playing on the lake... I-I should've listened to him. For once... I should've listened to him. But all I did was make fun of him for being cautious... This is all my fault..." Kaz cried.

"It may be your fault, but everybody does things they regret sometimes in their lives. I'm sure your friend isn't mad at you," the officer reassured.

"But... but what if he is?"

"Well, then, he's mad at you. And you can apologize. Make up for it. Do something special for him."

"You're right."

"Hey, what's your name, young man?"

"Kaz. Kaz Duncan."

"Well, Kaz, it's a pleasure to meet you. You seem like a good kid."

Kaz shrugged. "I guess."

She laughed, and that lit up her whole face. Kaz had to admit, she was a very beautiful woman.

"What's your friend's name?" she asked.

"Oliver Quimby," Kaz replied.

"Kaz and Oliver. Sounds like quite the dynamic duo."

"Yeah. We're best friends."

"How long have you two known each other?"

"For like nine years, since we were three."

"Wow! So pretty much your entire lives! See, I've only known my best friend for three years, and I'm twenty-four!"

Kaz chuckled.

"Now, we oughta get you home and to your parents. Do you have a phone number of theirs?"

"Yeah."

"You should call them, let them know what happened, and tell them you're alright. In the meantime, I need to get ahold of Oliver's family. You wouldn't happen to have a phone number for his parents, by chance, would you?"

"I don't, but I think my mom does. I just... don't want to call her..."

"Why not?"

"Well... you see... I'm out past my curfew..."

She laughed. "All the better reason to call her and tell her what's going on."

Kaz chuckled uncomfortably and pulled out his phone. He had lied to her. He wasn't out past his curfew, he was just afraid to call his mother. Last time he had spoken to her, she was awfully angry. He didn't like talking to her when she was angry. He couldn't call his father because he was still at work most likely, so he finally sighed and dialed his mother. Besides, the officer needed to call Oliver's parents. That was the only reason he called, really.

"Kaz?" his mother's voice asked, sternly and very suspiciously.

"Hi, mom. Uh... m-mom, there was an accident-" Kaz began but he was cut off.

"What accident?! What's going on?!"

"It's okay, mom, I'm alright. It's Oliver who isn't. He... he fell through the frozen lake... a-and he's headed for the hospital right now. The-the officers need Bridget or Nathan's number... do you have one of them?"

"I have Bridget's. I'll text you the number. Come home soon, alright?"

"Alright."

He hung up, and the number was sent to him. He showed it to the officer, who dialed it and called Bridget. It was picked up almost instantly.

"Hello? Is this Bridget Quimby, the mother of Oliver Quimby?" she asked nervously through the phone.

There was a long period of silence, and the officer looked insanely stressed at what Bridget appeared to be saying.

"Ma'am, please calm down. I'm calling to inform you that there was an accident-"

She squeezed her eyes shut tight, and she looked frustrated. Kaz could slightly hear Bridget talking in her normal panicked voice.

"Mrs Quimby, please. Your son, Oliver, is headed for the hospital. He fell through the lake in the park. I-"

She was interrupted again, and she was getting really irritated.

"Mrs Quimby, calm down. They're saying he's going to be fine. Your son is alright. I was merely calling to inform you of his whereabouts. They are going to the Memorial Hospital."

Bridget hung up right after she said that, and the officer looked insanely annoyed.

"Trust me, she's not much better in person," Kaz told her with a smirk.

She laughed.

"Well, Kaz, I think I'm gonna take you home now, alright?"

"Can't I go see Oliver?"

"No, honey. You won't be able to see him until tomorrow."

Kaz felt miserable. All he wanted was to hug his best friend and tell him he was sorry. He wouldn't be able to rest easy until he knew that Oliver was going to be alright.

Kaz reluctantly told her his address, and they set off towards there. He had a sick feeling in his stomach, and he felt like he was going to cry again, but he forced himself not to. He didn't want to walk into his house crying. Not in front of his family, ever.

"What's your name?" Kaz asked, curious.

"Officer Timber. But, you, my friend, can call me Carol, alright?" she smiled through the rearview mirror.

Kaz smiled back, though still feeling awful. When they drove up to his house, Kaz felt even worse. Home was the last place he wanted to be at that moment.

"Well, here you are, Kaz. It was great to meet you," she smiled.'

"It was great to meet you, too, Carol," Kaz grinned.

He was about to open the car door, when the sickening feeling overcame him again, and he simply froze.

"You alright?" Carol asked.

"I'm not sure," Kaz admitted.

She looked at him for a bit, then hurried and scribbled something down on a small piece of paper.

"Here," she handed it to him. "This is my phone number. You can call me whenever you need, or if you just want a friend to talk to. Okay? I work a lot, though, so if I can't answer, I'm sorry, but I'll get back to you when I can. Alright?"

He took it and looked at it for a second, then gave her a small grin. "I will. Thank you."

"Anytime."

He then opened the car door, got out and closed it, waved goodbye to Carol, and quickly headed up his porch steps and walked through his front door. For once, his house was... unnaturally quiet. Not completely quiet, but quieter. It just made him feel worse.

His mother was sitting in the living room, and when she saw him, she stood up and walked quickly over to him. She gave him a hug, one of her very uncaring ones. That sure made Kaz feel worse.

"I'm so sorry that happened, Kaz," she said softly.

No she wasn't. She didn't like Oliver, for some unfathomable reason. He didn't understand why, though. Oliver was a very likable and good, genuine person.

Kaz sort of shrugged her off, then started taking off his snow clothes, and threw them in a bin.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed," Kaz said with finality.

His mother nodded. "Alright. Alright. Goodnight."

Kaz rolled his eyes when she wasn't looking. He was so sick of her pretending to care about him. Maybe she did a little, but not enough to make an effort. He would have rathered her flat out not caring about him, rather than her pretending to.

He entered his bedroom, noticing that his brother wasn't in there. Keith had moved rooms, since Kendra had moved away for college, and she had had her own room. Now he just shared it with Kenny, who mostly just ignored him. But, he wasn't in there. He didn't care, though. He couldn't take his mind off of Oliver.

He changed his clothes and slid under his covers, his old Tecton blanket not on him, but next to him. It was too small and it was worn out, but he still liked having it around, no matter how much his brother made fun of him for it.

He couldn't sleep, after trying for many hours. He tossed and turned all night, frantically thinking about his best friend, who was probably going through a lot...

But he eventually did fall into a sleep filled with nightmares.

Oliver woke up, feeling panicky. He didn't have a clue where he was or what was going on, and he was terrified. He was in a room with tan painted walls, and there was a single lamp on as the only source of light. He was in an unfamiliar bed with scratchy bedding, and, worst of all, he appeared to have an IV. That caused him to freak out. He felt weird. He also really couldn't remember much of anything at that moment.

Oliver sat up slowly and weakly, frantically peering around the room. He was in a hospital room, and it appeared to be either the late at night, or very early in the morning. When he looked to the left of him, he saw his older brother, Chris, in the chair, asleep. He looked exhausted. Oliver wondered why he was there, and not one of his parents.

Probably had to work, instead of see their son in the hospital. Oliver thought to himself bitterly.

He was really trying to remember exactly why he was in the hospital, but nothing came to him at first. But then... he remembered it all. Kaz throwing him the football. Him crashing through the ice and plunging into freezing cold water. Kaz desperately trying to pull him back up. His body feeling as if it was going to stop working at any second. The sirens echoing in his brain as he slowly lost consciousness. He wondered where Kaz was. He hoped he was alright. He remembered Kaz being so upset, and blaming himself. All he wanted to do was hug him and tell him that it wasn't his fault, even if it was. Kaz had been crying. He had never seen Kaz cry before.

"Chris...!" Oliver whispered hoarsely to his brother.

Chris didn't even stir.

Oliver's throat was dry. "Chris...! Wake up...!"

Chris was still completely asleep.

"Chris!" Oliver said, louder.

That's when he woke up, looking dazed for a few seconds, but when he realized that his little brother was awake, he snapped to his senses and grinned.

"Oliver! Good to see you awake... again," he said with a chuckle.

Oliver was confused. "I… was awake before?"

"Oh, yeah. But you were loopy as heck, and you didn't seem completely awake."

Oliver laughed uncomfortably. He had no memory of that.

"How ya feeling, bud?" Chris asked.

"Weird. So weird," Oliver shrugged, laying back down completely. "And... sleepy."

Chris nodded, then said, "Well, mom and dad couldn't come be with you, yet. Dad had something come up, and mom had a work emergency. But I'm here."

Oliver felt a little disappointed. He wasn't all that surprised that his parents weren't there, but it hurt nonetheless to know that his parents would still choose their jobs over their son, even in a near death experience. Chris saw Oliver's face fall, and quickly said, "They're really sorry. Mom was here, you know. She was here for awhile, in fact. But something happened, and she had to leave. And dad's boss won't let him leave."

Oliver shrugged. "I guessed it would have something to do with work. It always does."

Chris looked like he wanted to say more, to comfort his little brother and defend his parents, but he didn't seem to have the words. Oliver felt incredibly sad. All he wanted was for his parents to for once choose him over their jobs. They claimed they loved him, but sometimes it was hard to believe. They were always busy, it seemed.

"Where's Kaz?" Oliver asked, anxious to change the subject.

"Kaz?" Chris looked confused, but then remembered. "Oh, Kaz. He's home, most likely."

"I want to see him."

"Well... I could talk to mom and ask her if when she comes in the afternoon, if she could bring him. If you want me to."

Oliver sighed. He wanted to see his best friend sooner, and not to mention, his mom wasn't coming until the afternoon! But he softly said, "Okay. Yeah, thank you."

"No problem, bud. I'll call her right now."

Chris decided to step out of the room to call her, which left Oliver alone to think. He had an awful feeling that Kaz was being hard on himself with blame. It was such a thing for him to do. He had a valid reason to blame himself, but it was also Oliver's fault for giving into the pressure. He just didn't want his best friend to take it so hard.

Kaz woke up early in the morning, even though it was a Saturday and he didn't have school. He tried to go back to sleep but it was impossible. He had wanted to sleep in but it wasn't an option for him. He just couldn't stop worrying about Oliver. No one had told him anything, even by the time it was noon. His siblings were mostly all out of the house except for a few. His father was working again, and his mother was busy cleaning. Kaz had been pestering her all day about Oliver and going to see Oliver, but she just wasn't listening.

"Mom," Kaz tried again. "I want to go see Oliver! Please! Can't you just drop me off, or something?!

"Enough, Kaz! I'll take you to go see Oliver in the evening, alright?!" she snapped.

"But-"

"But, nothing! Go clean your room!"

"But Kenny isn't home! I don't want to clean it by myself! He's even messier than I am!"

"Don't argue! He'll clean the whole room next time!"

Kaz knew not to push her any further. She was in one of her horrible moods, and it was best to just leave her alone at that point. So, he angrily stormed up to his room, and slammed the door. He slammed it so hard that something fell from Kenny's shelf. His heart pretty much stopping, he rushed over to see just what it was. He found that it was one of Kenny's weird dragon figurines, and it was broken on the floor. He knew it was one of Kenny's favorite possessions, and he would be dead if he ever found out about its condition. He always got blamed for anything, anyway, so Kenny was going to be extremely angry.

Kaz scooped up the pieces, and did the only thing he could think of to do. He literally shoved it under Kenny's bed, hoping he could glue it back together when he had time. He didn't really care about the figurine. He cared more about Kenny's wrath, which he didn't really care about either. Kenny needed to get a new hobby besides collecting weird figurines and such.

Kaz was still pissed off that he couldn't go see Oliver, and instead he had to clean the room he shared with his brother all by himself. He couldn't see him until the evening! He didn't think he could handle waiting that long, not knowing anything about his well being. He knew that he'd most likely hear if he was dead or something, but then again, Oliver could be paralyzed, and he wouldn't know about it until he went and saw him.

Kaz shoved Kenny's various things under his blankets. He knew that would tick Kenny off, but he didn't care. He needed to stop making the room so filthy. Kaz was sick of finding Kenny's crap all over his side of the room as well. He was too angry to think, anyway. His mom wasn't doing anything important, and she wouldn't take him to see his best friend, who had just had a near death experience and could be experiencing a lot of trauma. Kaz had a feeling that his mother wasn't taking him to see him, just because she hated him and his parents. He just wanted to go right then at that moment.

As if on cue, Kaz's mother entered the room, looking annoyed by something.

"Kaz, Bridget's on the phone. She was seeing if you wanted her to take you to the hospital to see Oliver. She's going soon. He's been asking to see you," she informed him.

Kaz's heart began to race in anxiousness. "Yes! I'll go."

"Thought so..." she grumbled.

She walked out the room and started talking on the phone again, but Kaz didn't listen to what she was saying, much. He hurried and cleaned the rest of the room and raced downstairs and sat on the couch, anxiously watching out the window.

"Bridget will be here in five minutes," Kaz's mother said, sounding bored and unconcerned.

It seemed like hours before Kaz saw Bridget's minivan pull into the driveway. He quickly opened the door and ran out, hopping into the front seat quickly. Bridget gave him a look. Kaz was a typically lazy boy, so to see him run like that was unusual, and strange.

"Kaz, you're slouching," Bridget said in a picky tone.

She had always taught Oliver things like good manners and proper behavior, so to see another boy that didn't act as her son did bothered her. Kaz gave her a look.

"O...kay..." he said, unconcerned. He kept on slouching. She wasn't his mother. She couldn't tell him what to do. Besides, even if it was his mother... he still probably wouldn't do as she said...

"I don't know why my son likes to hang around with you. You're clearly a bad influence on him. Last night was your fault, even!"

"I know," he said frustratedly through his teeth.

"Your lucky I'm not going to make Oliver break off his friendship with you after last night. I was planning on it, but it would break my little boy's heart and I hate to see him unhappy. Besides, he doesn't really have any other friends, other than those weird kids, Gordon and Jus."

"Jordan and Gus..." Kaz corrected, getting annoyed.

"Don't correct me. I don't care what your little friends' names are. The girl is violent and brings down Oliver's self esteem, and the boy is... revolting."

"At least they're not bad people..."

"I'm warning you, Kaz. You'd better shape up and start being a better influence on Oliver, or you two won't so much as peak again. You hear? Your actions have consequences. And last night's actions nearly killed my son."

Kaz felt a lump form in his throat. "I'm sorry..."

Bridget was surprised. "What?"

"I'm sorry."

At first, Bridget didn't know what to say. She had expected Kaz to say something totally different, not apologize. Maybe she'd misjudged him.

"Yes, well... everyone makes mistakes, I suppose. And you're only a boy," she sighed.

It was Kaz's turn to be surprised. Was Bridget being... soft? To him? He was all sorts of confused... until she sharply said, "I still want you to shape up, though. Oliver shouldn't hang out with someone like you, but I'll allow it. For now."

There she was.

Oliver was so incredibly bored, sitting in the hospital alone. Chris had left to go to work, because now he had his own family to support; his wife, Ally, and three year old son, Joseph. He wished someone was there to talk to him. He'd even want Gus to be there. At least things would be interesting…

Nurses came in and out, checking on him and such. Oliver hated the hospital. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't even close to the first time he'd been there. He was born, obviously, but he was premature. Extremely premature. So premature that he wasn't even expected to live, but he did, somehow. And that's why he had always been so small and scrawny. Then, when he was five, he cracked his head open when he and Kaz were wrestling in his living room, and he hit his head on the corner of a table. That hurt. Then, when he was eight, he had to have his appendix out, and he had almost died because of that. When he was ten, he had his tonsils out. When he was eleven, he had to have stitches because of a certain "skateboard on top of another skateboard" accident. Now, here he was, after falling into a frozen lake and almost dying. He had almost died so many times, it was crazy. The hospital was unfortunately very familiar to him. And it had been where his nephew was born, so he went there then. He was nine then.

Eventually, the door opened. Oliver got his hopes up that it was Kaz, or his mother, maybe his father, even Chris again... but, unfortunately, it was just a nurse. He sighed, fed up with this.

Before she could talk to him, he asked, "How much longer do I have to be here?"

She laughed. "I'm not sure, honey. Be... 'patient'... get it?"

Oliver got the pun, and it was his type of humor, but he wasn't in the mood to laugh, or even smile. He was getting antsy. Very antsy.

When Oliver didn't react, she cleared her throat and asked, "Are you open to any more visitors? There's a few people here to see you."

Oliver got excited. "Of course, I'm open! Who is it? Yeah, let them in!"

The nurse, Rachel, laughed. "Well, okay. I'll let them in. Be right back."

Oliver sat up and propped himself up against his pillow, grunting because of sudden pain in his back. It stopped before long, though, and he anxiously watched the door. It took about a minute, but eventually it opened rather fast. Oliver had a feeling who it was that had opened the door. And he knew he was right when he saw a certain black haired boy with chocolate brown eyes dashing toward him.

"Oliver!" Kaz cried out gleefully, running towards him and hugging him tightly. Maybe a little too tightly, because it sort of hurt Oliver, but he was too happy to see his best friend to tell him that he was in pain.

When Kaz let go of him finally, Oliver was able to breathe again. Kaz was about to say something, but he was pushed aside by Bridget, who had also come in. She hugged Oliver as well, though he wasn't as excited to see her as he was to see Kaz.

"Oh, my boy! I'm so sorry I couldn't stay! I wanted to, but it was a crisis at work! Just a crisis!" she exclaimed frantically.

"I-It's okay, mom..." Oliver said weakly, hoping she would let go.

She did let go, and Kaz stepped up to him again. He looked really sad.

"Oliver, I am so sorry this happened. It's all my fault. I should have listened to you. I-I'm such a bad friend..." Kaz said sadly.

"No, you're not a bad friend, Kaz. Don't blame yourself," Oliver reassured his best friend.

"Yes, I am. And I should blame myself. You could have died because I was being stupid as usual."

"But, I didn't. And that's what matters. Okay?"

"Okay."

Time passed since the accident, but Kaz didn't change much. Sure, he was slightly less reckless, but he was still the same Kaz, much to Oliver's disappointment. No, Oliver wasn't disappointed that his best friend was the same person he'd always been, but instead, he had hoped for Kaz to change, seeing as Oliver almost died. But, no. He was still the same. Still Kaz.


End file.
